Against both Florida State and Georgia Tech, the Hurricanes have relied on big plays in the final minutes to eke out emotional wins that have kept Miami undefeated and in control of its own destiny in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

What maybe has been most surprising about those wins is the players who have been on the field helping make them happen.

Running back Travis Homer started the season as Mark Walton’s back-up. Darrell Langham had only played sparingly before the win in Tallahassee. And on Saturday, Michael Jackson and Mike Smith stepped in for injured starters Dee Delaney and Mike Pinckney to help Miami earn a 25-24 comeback win over the Yellow Jackets at Hard Rock Stadium.

How have so many of the Hurricanes reserves found ways to be effective as they’ve been pressed into duty after Miami has been hit hard by injuries? Miami coach Mark Richt says it’s because the Hurricanes haven’t always treated those players like reserves. They’ve all gained valuable playing time because Miami insists on rotating players throughout games in an effort to build depth and keep players fresh, especially when playing in what can sometimes be brutal South Florida conditions.

“I think part of the reason this is happening is that we’ve been substituting our No. 2’s. It’s not like the twos sit on the bench and wait for someone to get hurt,” Richt said during his weekly appearance with WQAM-560’s Joe Rose on Monday morning. “They’re playing, they’re getting experience, they’re gaining confidence, and then when someone does go down, it’s not a shock to their system that ‘I’m in the game all of a sudden.’ That’s tough on a guy. If you play them, they get comfortable whether they’re starters or not, they’re used to playing in big games.”

Here, some other highlights of what Mark Richt had to say while on with Rose on Monday morning:

On the atmosphere late against Georgia Tech:

“It was a great finish, no doubt. Our fans were unbelievable. The skies opened up, the rains came down, the fans were energized and it was over.”

On how reserves like Travis Homer and Darrell Langham have stepped in and played well while starters have been hurt:

“To think they would be the ones that were going to have to carry the load in a game like that, you’d say we’ve probably got some injuries or guys grew up or both. Guys have really matured in a big way. Homer kind of came in with a workman-like attitude, a businesslike attitude and has been on task since he’s been here, as far as his growth. Langham, I think has always had the skill set. It just took a little bit of hard work and a little bit of confidence and he’s starting to blossom and take off. I’m really proud of both of them.”

On how the Hurricanes have played in the second half of games:

“I don’t say much to them other than, ‘Focus on your job.” Sometimes you just have to say, ‘Calm down. Trust your assignments. Trust your technique, don’t try to do something more than you should be doing. …’ Guys sometimes want to be the hero and jump in another gap they shouldn’t jump in. Usually a play will come to you if you stay in your gap defensively and play hard and pursue the ball. Offensively, in our system, for example, we have a certain play we call five different times and five different receivers got the ball. Coverage dictates. You have to be true to the system and trust and believe in each other.”

On second-half adjustments against Georgia Tech, specifically:

“They did a couple things differently in the perimeter, blocking when they were getting the ball outside. The first thing we did was stop the dive. If you don’t stop the dive, you’re done for the day. Our d-linemen did a great job of just punishing the fullback whether he had the ball or not. You just have to tackle him every play when he runs up the gut. Then everybody in the perimeter has to start playing ball and playing physical. We knew it was going to be a war of attrition because there was going to be some physical shots out there, some blocking, some taking on of blocks.

“For example, Mike Jackson, the first time a guy came to try and kick him out on an edge play, he pounded him. Then the second time, the guy wasn’t so excited about doing it and the third time, the guy could barely get up. Those are the kinds of things that you have to be able to do play after play to make this system work. Then you have to be careful on the back end because if they decide to launch it, be where you’re supposed to be as well.”

On the onside kick that failed against Georgia Tech:

“We were about to do it earlier in the game after our first score. We felt like it was there. It was supposed to be pop-over kick. We did it against Notre Dame to perfection last year, if I’m not mistaken. You kick it up and over the first line. We kind of squeezed our alignment. … When we squeezed down, they squeezed down to almost inside the hash. There’s a lot of space on the field. We’d have popped it in the right spot, [Braxton] Berrios was there to catch it on the fly. We just mishit it and because of it, the ball didn’t even travel 10 yards. They scooped it up and scored.

“It was a calculated risk. I played these guys I don’t know how many times, 10 years in a row? And one thing about it, you try to steal a possession somewhere along the way, either with a turnover or kicking an onside kick or whatever it is. A fake punt. You want to have a situation where you can take possession because a lot of time, they drive the ball and hold it so long you don’t get as many possessions as normal. We’re always looking for a way to do that. We saw it on tape, we saw it in the game. We just did not execute it.”

On Malik Rosier’s play in the second half of games:

“His biggest thing is he does get hyped up for the games. You want your quarterback to be pretty level-headed. He’s very smart. He knows what to do and he knows how to do it. But sometimes, if your mind’s racing just a little too fast, your feet maybe go a little too fast. You make decisions on your progressions a little bit too fast. You throw the ball a little bit sooner than you should and you’re missing a guy by an inch here. Once he settles down, he really plays well. We have to figure out a way to get him to play well early and get him started with a little bit of success. He’s still a relatively young starter, not a young player, but a young starter.”

On Ahmmon Richards’ status:

“He just wasn’t ready to go. He did play a game or two, and couldn’t quite finish. Halftime’s the worst enemy of a muscle pull you’re recovering from. You’re warmed up, you’re ready to go, you have adrenaline in you and it’s halftime. You sit there and it’s hard to keep your body going. You might ride the bike at halftime, but it’s not quite the same. We’re hopeful is all I can say on that one.”

On injuries to starters including Dee Delaney, Michael Pinckney and others:

“We’re just going to take them day-to-day and Thursday we’ll give the report. So, right now, we’re thinking everybody has a chance. We just have to keep watching them and see what happens day-to-day.”

On whether players can play in games if they don’t practice:

“I want them to practice, obviously. We decide if a guy practices or not based on the injury and all that type of thing. You might have a guy that’s a veteran guy, let’s say you’ve got Berrios and he’s sore and banged up and it’s not wise to get him in there and knock him around on our Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe he goes Thursday and plays on the weekend. You get a young guy who’s not sure what to do and needs reps to solidify game plans, then he might not be ready to play, even if all of a sudden he’s healthy. A guy like that you might play more in an emergency situation.”

On kicker Michael Badgley’s play Saturday against Georgia Tech:

“Four-for-four in this one and we needed every point. Like you say, the last one, the field had gotten so wet and soggy. The balls were nasty. It was a tribute to the snapper, Jordan Butler and Jack Spicer, our holder. No one knows the holder’s name unless he drops the ball, so I want to give the guy props. I want everyone to know his name because he did catch it. And the spot was perfect, Badge got it up nice and high right down the heart. It was a good job of centering the ball and having the time to do that with the timeout in our back pocket and it worked out well.”

Miami, which had a 24-yard field from Michael Badgley with four seconds left lift the Hurricanes to a 25-24 win over...

On the play of receiver Jeff Thomas:

“We saw the play early in the week and we knew it’d be there, especially if we hit a certain coverage. As fate would have it, we called the play, it’s the exact coverage we would have hoped for, he picked it up perfectly, everybody did what they were supposed to do and we had a little flag route … Then Malik couldn’t have thrown it any better, hit him on the dead run. I thought it was going to be a score. But the safety, to his credit, when he knew he got got, that guy made a speed turn and he just started running. I think Jeff was running was for a touchdown and that safety was running for his life. That’s why he got him at the end.”

“I’m watching tape as we speak. They play so fast and physical and wild with energy. It was amazing how hard they played and how hyped they were for that game. We can’t expect anything different from them this weekend. They just got after it. They really did. Clemson, we know, is a really good team and Clemson was doing some wonderful things, executing offensively. So far on the tape I’ve seen, guys are running hard and tackling well and it’s going to be an interesting ball game, for sure.”

“If a team had 200 years of football and you picked your best guys over 200 guys, you probably still couldn’t match. … These are five of many. We can grab five more next year and go, ‘Oh my goodness. Can you believe that?’ That’ what this place is and that’s what these guys are trying to live up to.”

On having those type of players around the program:

“I mean, when we had our Paradise Camp and a lot of those guys were coming, last year when Ray was in town and spoke to the camp, I was stealing selfies with the guy. I wasn’t too proud. I was pretty fired up to get those pictures. They’re still on my phone.”